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Powder post or Ambrosia?

3/21/18       
Carl

Hoping someone can help with identifying
what type of critter tracks I'm seeing in an
ash firewood pile.

The wood was cut/spit/stacked last
spring/fall, and all I see now in the stacked
wood are the small iles of tan frass - have
not seen any signs of live critters.

I'm pretty confident there were no
signs/holes when I cut and split. The
wood was stacked pretty tight in two
rows and covered with tin.

From my readings and what not, I'm
thinking these are either Ambrosia
beetles, or powder post beetles, but I'm
not sure how to confirm which. I have not
observed any dark rings around the holes,
which are barely a 1/16th of an inch dia.

And while on the topic - is there any
definitive way to distinguish between the
powder post and ambrosia when viewing
the exit holes and galleries?

The piece of firewood in the pictures is
2-1/2" in diameter


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3/21/18       #2: Powder post or Ambrosia? ...
Tennessee Tim  Member

Website: http://www.tsmfarms.com

Beetle....which one??? BUT I'll guess Powder Post....That limb reminds me of hickory BUT juvenile wood have smoother characteristics. My ADVISE is to BURN that ASAP in a pile AWAY from anything else or they'll be in other stuff fast IF their not there now!!!

3/21/18       #3: Powder post or Ambrosia? ...
GeneWengert-WoodDoc

Ambrosia is a powderpost beetle. The PPB we really worry about is the lyctid PPB as it likes dry wood. This looks like ambrosia PPB, but a picture is not 100%.

3/23/18       #5: Powder post or Ambrosia? ...
rich c.

My experience is that lyctid PPB channels run longer with the grain.

3/24/18       #6: Powder post or Ambrosia? ...
Carl

>My experience is that lyctid PPB channels run longer with the grain.

Hope that's the case - I believe Gene in the past has mentioned that the Ambrosia beetle only feeds on high MC wood, and that drying susceptible species should be
done quickly to remove temptation. Where the lyctid, as he mentioned, will remain a pest regardless of MC.

I've also noticed that the galleries are only in the cambium/phloem portion .... do ambrosia beetles penetrate further into the sap wood, or just attack/feed in the cambium area?

3/24/18       #7: Powder post or Ambrosia? ...
rich c.

"or just attack/feed in the cambium area"

Depends on species and level of infestation.
Why are you worried about the firewood? It still burns great. You must stack a pile in the house?

3/25/18       #8: Powder post or Ambrosia? ...
Carl

>Why are you worried about the firewood?

We'll be sawing quite a few ash trees
from areas 300-400 feet from where
the firewood was stacked, and are
concerned about the ambrosia critters
creating problems.

3/25/18       #9: Powder post or Ambrosia? ...
rich c.

I will say that fresh cut ash is like candy to lyctid powder post beetle!

3/25/18       #10: Powder post or Ambrosia? ...
GeneWengert-WoodDoc

The ambrosia likes or requires 30% MC and higher; oftentimes the literature says over 40% in lumber, as getting close to 30% MC means lots of the wood in lumber is drier. The lyctid lives between 30% and 8% MC.

Another difference is that the ambrosia can have a life cycle that is maybe 4 weeks, so it is prolific at times, while the lyctid is once per year and may require two years until the insects leave the wood. The lyctid seems to do less damage in one summer than the ambrosia. In fact, if the air dried wood gets infected with lyctid at the end of the cycle when MCs are under 30%, Kiln temperatures over 133F will kill it. If the infected lyctid wood is not kiln dried hot enough, it is still most likely that we will not see the exit holes for a year or longer. Also, because the eggs are laid on the surface, air dried wood under 30% MC that is then well planed will eliminate the eggs.

Bottom line is that we seldom will have any chance of seeing lyctid until the furniture, cabinets, flooring are in a home or office. Then the source is most likely after kiln drying and after manufacturing if rather lumber is not stored very long after kiln drying. Even if you have lyctid in an adjacent lumber pile, they exit and lay new eggs in uninflected lumber once a year. They exit when the weather warms, so spring is risky.


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